Post by kensei on Nov 7, 2011 13:19:08 GMT
I have to admit it, I am a big MMA fan...but as of late I have noticed a few things that are really starting to make me think about the state of MMA and what it is doing to martial arts and other nasty bits.
I dont know how popular it is in Europe but MMA is making a HUGE craze in North America and much like the Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kung fu and even Ninja crazes it provides an element of danger that we have not faced before.
I grew up in Karate at the time when Kung fu and Karate were the most "Lethal" arts and were so popular that people swarmed to Dojo's in their Chuck Norris action Jeans and all put on white PJ's and ran around screaming as an often under educated Sensei got them doing crazy stuff and alot of people got hurt and stopped training.
Fast forward three decades plus and I am not watching as people swarm to MMA gyms to learn the hybrid styles of Kick boxing (often Thai boxing) and BJJ. Alone with good safety this would not be bad but the "Managers" or "instructors" are pushing kids to train and compete. I have read about three kids in my city who were damaged, and I dont use that word lightly, so bad that they needed to get hospitalized.
Much like the "my kid will be the next Tiger Woods" syndrome, everyone thinks they will be the next Dos Santos or Couture or whom ever.....with out realizing that for every Lyoto Machida their are litterally thousands who get beat up and hurt and leave the sport broken, or just leave the sport.
One kid in Winnipeg was beaten so bad he lost sight in one eye and had a stroke in the training ring. Full contact sports with out education and safety standards is dangerous and should be monitored.
Full Contact in general is what it is, damaging. No one goes itno a ring and gets hit, hits or grapples full contact and does not get hurt. Yes you heal from the small injuries, but I have now read about a child who broke his arm so bad in a grappling match full on that they had to put rods in his arm and he wont be able to use his arm the same way again...ever!
when you see videos of instructors encouraging others to choke out fellow students or "rip the arm off" and such horrible sportsmanship issues come up like instructors telling students not to go easy on other students to prove a point.....well it makes you think that perhaps MMA coaching should be licenced.
for all the good that MMA has done for our clubs, brining in new students ext, I think that it has also done alot of bad for our art. First off it draws young people AWAY from traditional Martial arts and then it hurts them and they leave to never come back...so that benefit is limited. Secondly they distance themselves from TMA so much and say we dont work.....so that kills that benefit.
The truth is that MMA is fun to watch and at the right level its a great sport to get interested in as a fan, but our students need to know that you dont get to that level with out getting hurt A LOT! and for every Chris Leben that steps into the UFC or Andre Arlovski that works with Pro Elite...their are litterally hundreds and thousands of guys that get banged around, beat up and hurt to the point that they DONT HEAL and get paid $200 bucks for the right to do so.
MMA has good, it has bad and damned if it dont have its ugly!
I dont know how popular it is in Europe but MMA is making a HUGE craze in North America and much like the Judo, Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Kung fu and even Ninja crazes it provides an element of danger that we have not faced before.
I grew up in Karate at the time when Kung fu and Karate were the most "Lethal" arts and were so popular that people swarmed to Dojo's in their Chuck Norris action Jeans and all put on white PJ's and ran around screaming as an often under educated Sensei got them doing crazy stuff and alot of people got hurt and stopped training.
Fast forward three decades plus and I am not watching as people swarm to MMA gyms to learn the hybrid styles of Kick boxing (often Thai boxing) and BJJ. Alone with good safety this would not be bad but the "Managers" or "instructors" are pushing kids to train and compete. I have read about three kids in my city who were damaged, and I dont use that word lightly, so bad that they needed to get hospitalized.
Much like the "my kid will be the next Tiger Woods" syndrome, everyone thinks they will be the next Dos Santos or Couture or whom ever.....with out realizing that for every Lyoto Machida their are litterally thousands who get beat up and hurt and leave the sport broken, or just leave the sport.
One kid in Winnipeg was beaten so bad he lost sight in one eye and had a stroke in the training ring. Full contact sports with out education and safety standards is dangerous and should be monitored.
Full Contact in general is what it is, damaging. No one goes itno a ring and gets hit, hits or grapples full contact and does not get hurt. Yes you heal from the small injuries, but I have now read about a child who broke his arm so bad in a grappling match full on that they had to put rods in his arm and he wont be able to use his arm the same way again...ever!
when you see videos of instructors encouraging others to choke out fellow students or "rip the arm off" and such horrible sportsmanship issues come up like instructors telling students not to go easy on other students to prove a point.....well it makes you think that perhaps MMA coaching should be licenced.
for all the good that MMA has done for our clubs, brining in new students ext, I think that it has also done alot of bad for our art. First off it draws young people AWAY from traditional Martial arts and then it hurts them and they leave to never come back...so that benefit is limited. Secondly they distance themselves from TMA so much and say we dont work.....so that kills that benefit.
The truth is that MMA is fun to watch and at the right level its a great sport to get interested in as a fan, but our students need to know that you dont get to that level with out getting hurt A LOT! and for every Chris Leben that steps into the UFC or Andre Arlovski that works with Pro Elite...their are litterally hundreds and thousands of guys that get banged around, beat up and hurt to the point that they DONT HEAL and get paid $200 bucks for the right to do so.
MMA has good, it has bad and damned if it dont have its ugly!